Parents disappointed with Learn Anywhere vote in Wakefield

By Darrell Halenwakefield@wickedlocal.com

Wednesday

Aug 8, 2018 at 12:06 PMAug 8, 2018 at 12:06 PM

Rhiannon Rossi, a local mother, told School Committee members at their July 24 meting that she was disappointed they had voted to continue the Learn Anywhere program during a meeting held a month earlier.

It was a vote, she said, that was taken without public notice and without addressing several concerns about the program expressed by parents.

Rossi, a Converse Street resident, expressed surprise and disappointment that the School Committee had held such a vote.

Members had voted 6 to 1 at their June 26 meeting to continue the program for two years at the recommendation of outgoing Superintendent Kim Smith and Doug Lyons, the incoming superintendent.

Under the program, when school is cancelled due to inclement weather, students engage in online distance learning rather than cancelled school days being made up at the end of the school year.

By extending Learn Anywhere for two more years, the School Committee will eventually have completed a three-year model with data and experience before writing a long-term policy for the program.

Members have received feedback and comments and survey data results from parents, students and educators about the program’s recently-concluded first year.

The two women who spoke at the July 24 meeting did so individually during the public comment portion of that meeting.

Rossi shared that she has a daughter on an IEP (Individualized Education Program) who receives numerous services.

Despite meetings, writing emails, and having a letter read at a School Committee meeting, she said, none of her concerns have been addressed, and she’s been asking questions for months.

“I don’t understand how a vote was taken saying this program was a success without addressing these problems. It seems like the kids who are on an IEP plan are being overlooked and discriminated against by not taking their needs into account,” Rossi said.

Rossi said she wants the School Committee to answer her questions. If a child is on an IEP and the parent is not a special education teacher, how is the school going to make up the days that a parent can’t competently replicate? And how does this not put her child behind mainstream students?

“My daughter cannot complete the Learn Anywhere assignments without help from me and I am not equipped to provide this kind of instruction,” Rossi said. “My daughter receives specialized, specific instruction in school and to give her work outside of her special education assistance is actually a detriment to her learning. As a result, I stopped participating in the assignments.”

Suzie Veilleux of Aborn Avenue said she doesn’t have a problem with the Learn Anywhere snow days program, but was concerned about the process that was followed.

A vote to extend the Learning Anywhere project wasn’t on the June 26 meeting agenda, she said, and she felt the School Committee didn’t have enough information to make a decision at that time.

“Data had been provided but not synthesized in an organized way,” Veilleux said. “No specific areas for improvement were identified. No recommendations were given for future changes. Comments hadn’t been provided to or reviewed by the committee.”

Later, she added: “The survey results, comments and feedback given to administration show that this program, as it was executed this past school year, did not work well for everyone. Yes, it worked well for most but not for all.”

Students on IEPs didn’t get modified assignments to meet their individualized needs or the services they would have received on a regular school day, she said.

“Working parents were expected to do their jobs from home on a snowy day and helping their children navigate their Learn Anywhere assignments created stress. A sentiment that resonated with me personally,” Veilleux said.

Some parents had tablets but not computers and had trouble accessing the Learning Anywhere website and some students went to a caregiver’s home where there was no computer available to do the assignments, Veilleux said.

The fact that assignments are not due the next school day does not diminish the fact those parents feel the program is not working for them or their children, Veilleux said.

Some parents, Veilleux said, have expressed their concerns to the School Department outside of the surveys.

The School Committee did not limit the number of snow days for Learn Anywhere, which had been suggested by others, and Veilleux suggested that be modified if possible.

Later in the meeting, when Learn Anywhere was discussed by the School Committee and Lyons, member Greg Liakos defended the June 26 vote.

Liakos said it was consistent with policy for the School Committee to take a vote after hearing a recommendation from the superintendent. Learn Anywhere was on the June 26 meeting agenda under “Superintendent’s Remarks, Reports, Recommendations.”

Liakos said the School Committee had heard in public a full presentation from staff, survey results, public testimony, and criticism of the program.

“We had all that information when we made that vote,” Liakos said. “It was a full debate.”

School Committee Chairman Tom Markham agreed with Liakos, and said he appreciated all comments made about the program.

“This decision was not in a vacuum,” he said, adding that the vote allows Lyons and administrator to work on things the program needs to make improvements.

The School Committee’s next role regarding Learn Anywhere, Markham, said, is to create a charge for its advisory committee. Markham said he and Lyons will work on the wording.

Markham added that Learn Anywhere is too good an initiative not to seek improvement. Overall, it is overwhelmingly supported by the public, he said.

“We do recognize there are holes,” Markham said. “There are holes in any model in the first year.”

Lyons said he expects the advisory committee will be made up of between 10 and 16 people, and he expect teachers, administrators, parents and students will be represented.

Lyons also thanked the parents for the comments they made at the meeting’s start.

“I do think the things that you bring up are our responsibility to work through and figure out,” he said. “We do need to figure out … how are we serving students who need different types of learning, how are we supporting them not only in school but outside of school as well.”

That is one of the most important things that need to be addressed in the fall with the advisory committee, Lyons said.

Issues of access, engagement, and students having difficulty initiating and participating in assignments will be examined, Lyons said.